News  ⁄  Democracy & governance

Conservatives hold Topsham in Exeter city council by-election

A by-election held on general election day produced an unusually high turnout but a lower Conservative vote share than at the May local elections.

Exeter city council   Local elections   By-election   Topsham  

Conservative candidate Keith Sparkes was elected to represent Topsham on Exeter City Council on Thursday.

He secured 2,315 votes on a 42.5% share. The turnout was unusually high at 74% as the vote was held on the same day as the general election.

However the Conservative vote share was 4.5% down in the ward compared with the May local elections, when Rob Newby was elected with 47% of the votes cast.

Labour’s Ivan Jordan finished second on this occasion with 1713 votes on a 31% share, up a point and a half on May’s results.

Christine Campion came third for the Liberal Democrats with 1106 votes on a 20% share, up 15% on May.

The by-election was held following the resignation of Conservative Catherine Pierce, who was elected to the council in 2018. No reason for her resignation has been given.

Exeter City Council remains composed of 29 Labour, six Conservative, two Liberal Democrat, one Green and one Independent councillor.

 is editor of Exeter Observer and a director of its publisher Exeter Observer Limited.

 

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